It is known in the art that most garage doors and the like currently used are counterbalanced by different suitable means. Some doors are counterbalanced by means of a counterweight and other doors are counterbalanced by means of an energy-storing device, such as a spring under traction or torsion for example. These counterbalancing systems are typically used to ease the force required by a user or a motorized door system to raise and lower the door. In order to put a spring under tension, an installer typically must wind the spring, generally a torsional spring, and maintain a given torque or tension in the spring by different methods and apparatuses. Actually, some systems employ a U-bolt or a special bracket which are tightened and maintained in place when the spring is under tension.
It is also known in the art that the shaft around which the door is wrapped usually rests on a bearing, generally seated in a plug (or “anchor”) which maintains and holds the spring. Usually, this bearing must be installed on site and this is often a problem for the installer because the spring is under tension. To ease installation, the spring may be installed at manufacture but in such cases, the plug (or anchor) must be installed under tension and kept as such during transportation.
It is also known in the art that very often, the counterbalancing mechanisms of the aforementioned type of installations will often use unidirectional or “one-way” bearings. Similarly to regular bearings, unidirectional bearings comprise an inner ring which is slidably rotatable within an outer ring, the outer ring being concentrically mounted about the inner ring, the inner and outer rings being slidably movable with respect to another by means of bearings positioned between both rings. Unidirectional bearings are generally designed so as to have an inner portion of the outer ring provided with appropriately shaped grooves so that when the inner ring is rotated along one direction, there is a relative movement between the inner and outer rings, whereas when the inner ring is rotated along the opposite direction, then the bearings of the bearing are blocked by the corresponding grooves of the outer ring, thereby blocking relative movement between the inner ring and the outer ring. It is also known in the art that these unidirectional bearings are quite elaborate and costly to manufacture, and also are fairly difficult to install, replace, maintain, adjust and/or repair on counterbalancing mechanisms which are under tension. Indeed, this results in additional assembling steps and components required, which is disadvantageous, namely in terms of time and costs.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved device or assembly which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome some of the aforementioned prior art problems.